I would also not recommend putting anything where you might reach through the prop arc to get to.

Although it seems completely stupid and improbably, I woudn't be surprised if someone reaches into a rotating prop to get to the switch. That's gotta hurt!!!

ps. I've got scars to show just how stupid we can get!

I made a bracket that was mounted to the firewall and a small hole through the cowling to get to the Great Planes fueling valve. It was easy to get to and did not interfere with cowl removal.

I also used a remote glow plug adapter that has a 1/8" phono jack that is mounted to the fuselage wall. It is almost invisible. You can see the fueling hole in the right side pic and the glow connector just above the radio switch on the laft side.

The Gee Bee flies great. It's quite fast! I have a Saito 120 in mine. Takeoffs are straight and short. Once airborne, I noticed that it needs coordinated rudder and aileron to keep it from slipping in turns. It is capable of about all sport aerobatic manuvers and does them with style. This airplane is inpressive to watch in the air. Landings are the only problem area that I can see. If you use the stock wire gear, they are too flexible and will bend back in the wheel pant and lock the wheel against the pant, causing it to flip. The cowling mounting isn't very strong and does get damaged easily. I used an abrasive wheel and cut a slot behind the wheels to allow more travel of the gear. It helped a lot. Using the Robart oleo strus will help. I wish I had put them on mine. Landings need to be smooth full stall. The Gee Bee doesn't need much encouragement to flip over and landing too fast will most likely result in a flip. I think the hardest part I have is getting it to slow down on landing. Where I was flying is surrounded by trees and you have to come in over the top of them. The Gee Bee will speed up with the nose pointed down. It does not slow down and fall out of the air just because the throttle is pulled back to idle. You would think with that hugh cowling that it would act as a speed brake, but I didn't find it so.

DO TAKE YOUR TIME AND GET THE CG CORRECT! As posted earlier, the CG is critical. Too far aft and you will have a monster on your hands! Set when it's called out in the instructiuons, and it flies great.

Any advanced flyer should be able to handle the Gee Bee. You must be able to make good landings though. If you are unsure of your abilities, I'd recommend that you have someone with you that is more experienced than you are on those first flights.

Once an Gee Bee addict, always an Gee Bee addict! There's never ben another plane like it!

Rod

Has anyone dabbled in scale details with theirs? I see that the real one had flying wires (almost look like aluminum rods), tail wheel wheel pant, rivets, etc. I would love to at least do the flying wires on mine....really brings out the '30's feel. Any advice? Thanks. -Chris.

I had thought about adding detail, but after seeing how easily they get damaged during landings, I decided not to waste my time only to see it destroyed. You can use a silver plastic lacing material available at most craft store to use as flying wires. They will break away, rather than damage the airframe as using a stranded steel cable would.

In any case, I would fly it awhile before spending too much time detailing it. Detail can always be added later.

Rod

Where did you get it?

Thanks.

Guys

Thanks alot for all who've replied to my questions.

You're advice is all very much appreciated.

I have bitten the bullet and decided to put my switch gear into the radial as I first described.

I really don't think it's gonna be a problem here, although I may strenthen the mounting holes I have drilled by epoxying some small ply strenthening plates behind where I have cut the cowling.

There will be no need to fiddle with anything mounted here when the engine is running, and I intend to wire it all up with at least enough cable to allow any connectors to be reached when taking the cowling on and off, although I don't really expext to be taking it off once it's all nicely set up........(I may end up eating my words on that one!)

I shall post some pics when it's done so you can see what you think.

Heli Rod, what size prop are you running on your motor?

I'm using every spare minute I have at the mo to get this beauty finished....trouble is, I don't have many spare minutes right now so progress is fairly slow.

Once this dummy radial is painted and glued into the cowling, as well as decals and balancing she'll be ready to go.

Can't wait

Mike G

I use a wood 16 x 8 and she hauls butt!

Rod

I got the dummy radial; from a friend. He vacu-formed it himself.

I would think that Williams Brothers should have something suitable. http://www.williamsbrothersmodelproducts.com/rc.html

Thanks!

I have the gp gee bee and I love to fly it, hate to land it. I can land ok but I do believe the gear is a bit flimsy and causes some of the problems. Is there anyone out there who had the wire gear and has switched to the Robart and left the wheel pant as they are? And if so, can you tell me if it is worth the change? Jim

Henry Haffke designed a Gee Bee for Coverite (The Model D) in which the landing gear is the same as the GP. Henry added a 3/8 or 1/2 inch balsa triangle piece between the front and rear halves of the gear on each side. I simply duplicated this for my GP Gee Bee and it has added a tremendous amount of strength to the gear....see attached photo.

[img][/img][img][/img]

I flew my gee bee again today. I found most of the pieces. Yes, a total loss!!! I was inverted making the turn to final for a low pass and the wing exploded. Some of the crowd saw it, all of them heard it. I have been flying for 22 years and have never seen a wing separation like this. I was not pulling more than 3 or 4 G's and the plane was in real good shape. I once lost an Ultra Sport to nylon bolt failure but that made little or no sound, this was truly an explosion. Witnesses agreed that the wing came off in many pieses. I will get another gee bee but this time I will not use the nylon bolts. Not sure if that was the cause but not taking any chances.

I would imagine that you had a spar failure, not a bolt failure.

I'll bet your right, as catastrophic as the failure was. The plane is 12 lbs. It would be a good idea to glass the wing panels together, top and bottom if you are planning hard inside and, or outside maneuvers. Jim

Well my Gee Bee is ready for its maiden, hopefully tomorrow. It is powered by an OS 160 FX two stroke. I managed to hide the remote glow in the gap between the cowl and fuse. Trying to hide the switch seemed pointless, so I just mounted it on the side of the fuse. The only thing I have done other than stock is paint the cockpit black and add a red headrest which was the plastic cap of a bottle of Fantastic. Looks great! I am leary about trying to land it based on what I have heard here, but whatcha gonna do. It needed an ounce of lead in the tail as well as moving the battery behind the wing saddle. It has an 18x10 Master Airscrew 'Classic' on it. Here is a grainy cell phone shot of it. Maiden will be videoed. Happy flying!

My Gee Bee has a OS AX 120 and it rips. That 160 should be insane power. I use a 16x10 apc with 3/4 inch cut of the tips, that works amazingly well.

Hi, Guys

I thought I would post a couple pictures of my GP GeeBee. I added some flying wires I made from 1/8" aliminum tubing.
The bottom wires are glued in, but the top wires are held in place with O-rings on each end, so they can be removed when
I remove the wing. I hid my on-off switch between the cowl and fuse, I can just fit my finger in between to turn my radio on or off.
For power I went a little differnt, I power mine with an AXI 4130-20, and a 24 cell NiCads. It flys scarry quiet, but nice.
Flying was very good but landing on grass is a little tricky. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Thanks
Ralph V

Well my maiden flight on my OS 160 powered Gee Bee went well, at least in the beginning anyway. The landing, however, was not so good. Flew great and the sound of the 160 was awesome. Easy to fly, nimble and what a looker! Unfortunately, both gears went through the wing as soon as it touched down. The landing was not hard, just a little fast (did not want to drop down the speed too much). After I chop down the video I will post it. I was shocked that they ripped out so hard...I thought it would just start rolling...I think that the pants caught a rutt or something. So, both wing halves are shot. As are the wheel pants and cowl. Of course, for wings, wheel pants, cowl and decals it is nearly $150. That does not include the ply to join the wing either. So, it seems that the best bet would be to just get another arf. Sigh.

Sorry to hear about your mishap. Welcome to the club! At least you have some video to enjoy and learn from. I had a similar experience during a fast landing. The gear did not rip out in my case, but a hard nose-over resulted. When the wheels touched down, they grabbed instead of rolling, I believe, due to the wire gear flexing and allowing the wheels to contact the pants. After that, I bought the Robart gear made for the GP GB and modified the wheel pants to telescope with the shocks ( link to that thread in post 272 of this thread). Fast and hard touch and gos are not a problem for me now that they once were with the stock wire gear. Maintaining and flying Gee Bees are a labor of love. Everybody loves Gee Bees but nobody loves landing a Gee Bee. As I see it, Gee Bees are so unique that the risk is worth the reward for enough people that Great Planes will keep producing their GB ARF for years to come.

Sorry to hear about your loss Sessholvlaru. Don't feel like the Lone Ranger on this one. Anyone that has flown the GeeBee can relate and understands. She definately has to be landed slow and she doesn't like to slow down like you would think it should with that large cowling. If you are determined to try again, I would invest in the Robart gear. Anything has to be better than the stock gear that it comes with!

We'll be waiting for the video.

Rod

If you decide to build another, you must check out Henry Haffke's plans and how he reinforces the wire landing gear. There is wood placed between the front and rear strut landing gear wires. I added these as I was very familiar with Henry's models and my landings all held up.

I certainly plan on getting her in the air again. I am hooked on the plane, and since the fuse took hardly any damage (just a monokote tear on the bottom side of one tail from the flying wheel pant) I can't just gut it. Hoping to find an ebay deal on another. It will fly again. I am going to try and cut down my video. I will post a link soon!

Hi guys. Do any of you have the Haffke 71" plan? I'm building a gear, including pants, for a customer who says he can't find the flying wire attachment points on the bottom of the wing. I need the distance from the centerline if the strut out to that attachment point, so I can calculate the proper size and location of the entry slots in the wheel pants. I'll attach several pics of a partially completed gear. Thanks for any help I can get! Does anybody know Haffkes email address? Lee Robinson W. Palm Beach, FL.

Hey Guys.
This is my solution to the gee bee landing blues. No more cowl and fin repairs.

That is the funniest thing ever. Good idea though.